Book Review: One Night With A Billionaire by Jessica Clare

I knew it was only a matter of time before I finished this series, and I feel a little sad about it. I mean, yeah, I’m going to read them again, especially 2, 4, and 6 in the series, but I really love this world and really don’t want the author to stop writing for it.

One-Sentence Synopsis
A make-up artist spends a fantastic night with a billionaire but can’t take it further because the singer she’s touring with has called dibs. For a full synopsis, see this book’s Goodreads page.

The Good Stuff
Kylie is a great character. She’s a big girl, and I love that no one skirts around this. Cade never tries to tell her she’s not fat to make her feel better. Instead, he’s genuinely attracted to her and loves her for who she is. Though she has personal issues with her weight, it never becomes overpowering to her character or takes away from the story itself. Like most of these books, this one was body positive and sex positive.

Things That Made Me Go Hmmm
Daphne is back. She was heavily featured back in The Wrong Billionaire’s Bed and was pretty horrible up until she made a promise to her sister to get clean. As you can imagine, she broke that promise and is a hot mess in this one. She’s also a heinous person working for a record label that’s just as heinous.

I spent the entire book hating her, but then my emotions got toyed with, and once again, she turned out to be okay. I know the other books made me emotional at points, but I think this one was by far pushed most of my buttons.

The Romance Factor
Kylie’s lack of confidence was endearing and added to the conflict when she didn’t think she could compete with Daphne. Cade’s determination to keep Kylie was so alpha, but so sweet. Heck yeah I wanted these two to get together. 5/5

The Steam Factor
You know those scenes that are pretty much standard in a porn film? Not only does Clare go there, but she writes those same scenes as hot and romantic. 5/5

Final Thoughts
This is my 3rd favorite in the series, I loved every minute of it. I’m so sad to be done with this series, but at least I now own them all and get to read them again.

 

Romancing the Billionaire by Jessica Clare

I’ve loved this series so much, but I wasn’t as excited to read this one as I have been the others. It follows a second chances trope, and for some reason, that trope just doesn’t grab me. That wasn’t going to deter me from reading it though, especially because I have one more book to go before I move on to the Billionaires and Bridesmaids spinoff trilogy.

One-Sentence Synopsis
After a decade of regret about losing the woman he loved, a billionaire reunites with her to set off on a treasure hunt left by her dead father, desperate to win her back despite the fact that she hates him. For a full synopsis, see this book’s Goodreads page.

The Good Stuff
I ended up really enjoying this one. Violet is hardcore about carrying a grudge, as she’s maintained one against Jonathan for a decade. To be fair, it’s a pretty deep one and borne of both heartache and tragedy. Of course there’s a major misunderstanding, but even with that, Jonathan isn’t held faultless for the fact that he lost her. I liked that they both made mistakes and that it caused them both pain. I’m apparently a character sadist.

I may have mentioned it before, but when written well, a hero who gets sappy over a woman is seriously the best thing ever. Jonathan is still so completely in love with Violet and he’s tormented by the fact that she doesn’t want anything to do with him. My heart seriously broke for the poor guy. Yet at the same time, I was also saying, “You go, Violet. Make him work for it.”

The Romance Factor
Nothing says romance like a man who cries over the woman he wants. I’m also somewhat of a fan of miscommunication when done in the name of angst, and there is a nice chunk of that in this story. Oh the drama. The delicious drama. 5/5

The Steam Factor
I covet Jessica Clare’s ability to write hot sex scenes. The detail and the intensity are always amazing, and though there wasn’t as many sexy times in this one as there have been in others, it was still highly blush inducing. 5/5

Final Thoughts
While not my favorite, I think this book held up well to the series, and even though second chance love isn’t my thing, it definitely gave it originality among the other stories. It’s going on the shelf for when I want to re-read the whole series.

Once Upon a Billionaire by Jessica Claire

I hit another one of my goals, which meant I got to reward myself with the 4th book in the Billionaire Boys Club series. Sadly, I don’t get to see it sitting on my shelf, since it’s not in print. However, I could still read the digital version, which I bought right away. Besides treating myself to the book, I also treated myself to a night of putting the other books I’m reading aside and diving into this one.

One-Sentence Synopsis
A stuffy member of a small country’s royal family is appalled when the the temporary assistant hired to accompany him to his cousin’s wedding turns out to be a southern girl with no knowledge of proper etiquette or decor. For a full synopsis, see this book’s Goodreads page.

The Good Stuff
This one currently stands as my 2nd favorite of the series. Griffin is a complete douche while Maylee (who we met in a previous book) is one of the sweetest people ever, as evidenced by the fact that people are drawn to her and seem to like to be around her. Except for Griffin, who can only focus on the fact that she has a southern accent and seemingly, no filter.

Unlike Reese in the previous book, Griffin has a reason for the way he is. Having been brought up to be proper in a royal family, he can’t quite let go of those teachings, even though he’s made an effort to get as far away from his family as possible. Also, he’s not a social person. He doesn’t like people and he doesn’t understand them. There were so many times that he said or did something he thought was nice, and yet didn’t realize how much it hurt Maylee.

Maylee was so adorable. I loved her as the heroine, including her quirky ability to use folk healing to take away pain. It was a strange, magical element that fit into the story as a believable element. She was emotional, but it was nice to have an emotional heroine who was okay with crying when she was upset. She’s also hilarious. I couldn’t tell if she knew that Griffin was correcting her English and didn’t care or if she really didn’t know, but their dialog cracked me up.

Also, we get to see Gretchen and Hunter again, and though Gretchen comes off as a little obnoxious in this book, she’s also the one who calls Griffin out on being a dick, which maintains her likability quotient.

The Romance Factor
Maylee and Griffin take awhile to figure things out, but their journey there is so delightful and angsty. Every time Griffin messes up and Maylee gets sad, the feels just about about killed me. The thing is, Griffin messes up through pretty much the whole book, so while he learns, he learns very slowly. But he does learn, and by the end of the story, I was rooting for him, even if he was a major ass at the beginning. 5/5

The Steam Factor
Interesting fact about this story…compared to the other books, there’s almost no sex. The previous books in this series were pretty hot and heavy, but in this one, besides a few moments of sexual tension, nothing even happens between the two of them until about three quarters of the way through. Actual intercourse only happens once. But because Clare can right sex scenes like a boss, she managed to put so much eroticism into those few scenes, that it still maintained high steam factor. 4/5

Final Thoughts
It’s so hard to finish one of these novels and then go back to other ones. This is another one I could have turned around and read again. I own the next one in the series, so once I get some of my list pared down, I think I’ll “treat” myself to reading that one so I’m ready to buy the last one in the series when I meet my next goal.

The Wrong Billionaire’s Bed by Jessica Clare

I’m currently using books as rewards for meeting certain goals I’ve set for myself, so buying this one was exciting on a few levels. As someone who doesn’t keep many physical books, it says something that I want to own this whole series.

One-Sentence Synopsis
Always the good girl, a woman plans to rehab her sister and connect with the guy she’s always had a thing for, but her plans go askew when her crush’s sexy friend starts seducing her. To see a full synopsis, visit this book’s Goodreads page.

The Good Stuff
Audrey showed up in the first 2 books, and her crush on Cade had been strongly hinted at. She’s made it her life’s goal to be a good girl in opposition to her twin’s wild lifestyle, but her evolution in this book is good. Not only does she find that she’d rather be with someone who pushed her buttons rather than a nice guy, but she learns a few things about her relationship with her sister.

Speaking of Daphne, she’s the featured twin who showed up in the previous book and was a complete and annoying mess. Based on her previous antics and her state at the beginning of this book, I was prepared to hate her. But by the end, I thought she was okay. I’m not sure what she’ll do later in the series, but I didn’t end the book with mad hate for her.

Things That Made Me Go Hmmm
It was hard for me to like Reese. Sure, I had a few feels for him at times, but as a character, he wasn’t really likable. He makes no secret that he uses women for business and that he’s a major player. I wanted there to be a reason for this, like family history or a bad breakup, but there was little detail other than he’d grown up poor and was working hard to make his billion like the others in the club.

I also wanted more angry foreplay, because the little that was there was delightful. I was surprised at how quickly Audrey decided to give in to him and thought she should have made him work a little more for it.

The Romance Factor
For all his faults, Reese was genuine in his love for Audrey, even though she wasn’t his usual type and even though he’d previously been happy to be a playboy. Though Audrey also gave the feels, I definitely felt the love more through Reese, even if I didn’t feel it for him. 4/5

The Steam Factor
Clare usually delivers nothing less than a 5/5 and this is no exception. In fact, the all night orgasm fest in the woods was so hot I didn’t even think about how uncomfortable the ground would be.

Final Thoughts
While it didn’t beat Beauty and the Billionaire for me, it was still a fun read and a solid part of this series. I’m bummed the next one isn’t available in paperback, but I’ll be grabbing that eBook once I hit my next goal.

Stranded With a Billionaire by Jessica Clare

When Fifty Shades of Grey came out…and I was less than thrilled with it…I was kind of put off of billionaire books. Sure, I know that not all billionaires are douche canoes like Christian Grey, but it just didn’t seem like my thing.

Then I heard a conversation on Dear Bitches, Smart Authors podcast about Jessica Clare’s billionaire books. The thing that stood out to me was that the second in the series was a Beauty and the Beast trope. Which pretty much trumps any dislike of billionaires I may have had. However, I decided I would read the whole series. There are 6 books in the Billionaire Boys Club series and it kicks off with this one.

One-Sentence Synopsis
A waitress and a billionaire find themselves stranded, alone, and mostly naked at an island resort after it’s hit by a hurricane. For a full synopsis, see this book’s Goodreads page.

The Good Stuff
This was such a fun read. Clare is on my list of top authors and I’m now crediting her with making me look at billionaires in a whole new way. Being stranded on an island with a good looking rich man? You know this someone’s fantasy…even if the heroine doesn’t know he’s rich until later. There was some Blue Lagoon nostalgia, though Logan and Bronte are adults and I wasn’t super uncomfortable.

I loved that even though Bronte was attracted to Logan, she still wanted to be her own person and demanded that she be treated with respect.

The story is paced well, and even though one might argue the premise is fantastical, it’s actually believable. There’s angst, there’s feels, and there are hints of the other books in the series. I love when you get glimpses of future main characters. It leaves me wanting more.

Things That Made Me Go Hmmm
Even though I’m really good at suspending disbelief, I was slightly distracted by the fact that when they’re on the island and getting intimate that they’re doing it without having showered or brushed their teeth. It was like they were immune to body odor and morning breath.

Even though I liked both characters, there were times when Logan made me facepalm. There’s one scene in particular where Bronte has made it clear she needs to be wooed, so they have a nice date, some really nice sexy times…and then he’s like “Well, guess you’re moving in with me!” Dude, seriously? It cracked me up, so much so that in the 2nd book, when the hero of that story goes to Logan for advice, I was like “No! Don’t ask him for advice. He’ll lead you astray!”

The Romance Factor
Though he had his moments, there was something romantic about Logan going to extremes to have Bronte with him, and though the potential was there for some of his actions to be creepy, I completely bought into the fact that he just wanted to be with her. They definitely had chemistry and conflict. 3/5.

The Steam Factor
I appreciate a book that brings the erotica, brings it frequently, and yet doesn’t detract from the story itself. This is a good example of that. There were so many full detailed sexy times, but they fit perfectly with the story and contained some sweet moments. 5/5

Final Thoughts
Island breath aside, I really enjoyed this book, especially when it started the story in book 2. For not being a fan of billionaire stories previously, this one sucked me in and now I can’t wait to read the rest of the series.